Art club showcases works to boost employment, tourism

Art Club, under Marrywood Girls’ College, Ebute Metta (West), Lagos, came to the limelight recently, as artists, parents and Non Governmental Organization reiterated the strategic position occupied by arts as means of encouraging employment and tourism in Nigeria, particularly amongst the nation’s huge youth population.

The group exhibition organized by Marrywood Girls’ College, provided a platform for students to showcase different forms of art works and also for the school authorities to appreciate their efforts and motivate many unemployed Nigerians to explore untapped commercial opportunities in arts towards increasing the growing enterprise in Nigeria’s art and culture industry.

Speaking at the exhibition, Rev. Sr. Catherine Olubunmi Ologunagba, Marywood Girls’ College Administrator, observed that, “Nigerians are very gifted; and I think, one of the areas of our giftedness is in the the art.

By the time you create a room for this art to be known globally, it provides tourism for the nation.

This may seem to be a simple thing, but by the time you take it to the next level and invite people from different parts of the world, you are creating awareness of what the country is able to do and what the people are able to do.

It is way of promoting tourism and it will place Nigeria on a par with other countries.

The exhibition, according to Rev. Sr. Ologunagba, was significant. She said, “So, it is a very beautiful day judging by the turnout and excitement generated by the parent of these students to see the much gift ,especially on the area of creative arts, then one can say the nation has a bright future..

“Art is very important in the society because, everything around us is creative.

It shows the creativity of the children; and if we help them in the school to build up this creative skills, it will help them to be critical and creative in their thinking and in their actions, ultimately, they are going to contribute immensely to the world because every part of the world is about creativity.

It will help to be original, to be critical and to be able think deeply and make a different on the world. It builds up that reflection skills.”
We have so many societies ; and they featured every week . For the art exhibition this is the second edition of it.

The day saw lined up activities which included: Poem, painting, drawing , beads making, dress making, even choreography another forms of art exhibited.

But the climax of the event was the auction of the works by the students; which the first work bought for thirty thousand naira.

She said,”It is very much inline with the government agenda on diversification, because we are the ones to start building up this to give them that future, everywhere we want our children to contribute they will be able to contribute and not just focused in one aspect in life.

“For many Nigerians if you are not a doctor, engineer or a lawyer, you have not made it. For them, to also see that life is full of varieties that there is a lot to make life so beautiful . Apart from making leaving from finance, it’s also give them job satisfaction.”

“I will love to see some of them really going beyond what they have displayed today and experiencing more in the area art and to really use the skills because that is a passion; and I love to see that passion affect the world.”

Continued, “We are helping them to know that from your gift; and if you are consistent in what you are doing and you are passionate about it at a point when you make people to realized that this is my gift;

and it is beautiful the way they showcase it. The way you present that gift to people make them know that this gift is important as another thing and you are passionate about it, so you can create a leaving from it.”

On the support from government support, “She said out that first all the persons that have a dream is the person that owns up to the dream and does not lose the dream.

Your goal is to be an artist to make a difference; and that keeps you going; and then for those who have a means apart from the government, there are people around who recognize this gift and support and if it becomes something in large scale then government needs to come in because there are some policies that will make it easy for entrepreneurs to be able to survive.

Definitely, they need support in the area of finances, policies and others. So I really think it is necessary to get some of these supports from government and philanthropist.

According to her, art is anything that can create beauty: Incorporating this in the school curriculum has giving them a perception of something new, saves them to build self esteem; and if a child is good in creative art, definitely it will help to enhance the overall performance in the school.

I will strongly advise parents to allow their children to sustain the gift in art, support and nurture it through words of encouragement especially when it is inline with the ability of the child not just for the financial benefits but for the the child to be able to fulfill the future

On day to day challenges she said, when you are dealing with human beings should expect that people have various ways approaches to things, but as a leader my role is to harmonize everything going on for the good of the children. Our focus is on the children in term of eccademics, moral and all aspect of life.

The challenges are there, you may not actually do all you plan to do because of the diversity of our thinking and the way of doing things, but what kept us going is the dream we have for the children, we focus on our mission and to build them up into the women of integrity,” the Administrator concluded.

For Eliana Martins, who described self as parent, “Today is the art exhibition on Marrywood Girls Collage. I am excited and delighted .

I am happy with the diversity of the works.They have poem done, we have seen painting, drawing , beads making, dress making, even choreography another forms of art exhibited.

So we are happy our children are being shown to be versatile and whatever talent it is they have encouraged to be supportive and the government must always support this course.”

“We have even been given a talk today to be versatile and allowing these children to be multi talented , so no matter what their talent is they can be versatile enough to apply different things.”

Narrating the journey, Boluwatife Olabanji, President of Art Club noted , “I am very interested in art ; and I started at a very tender age.

We had an art exhibition, some art works were displaced , there was an auction and a fashion for the cloths I made. For the dress one will take like a day and half to make and made all of them.

I actually love passion right from when I was young anything I want to wear I took my time and I also like to create cloths for other people.”

“My dad is an artist and my mum likes fashion,” she explained “I am very happy with what was displayed here today because nothing went wrong and a lot of people were happy with what they saw. The turnout was successfully.”

She however advised other children if they have any talent they should not wait until they are done with school because they can start from now and shouldn’t hide it because there are a lot of people out there that are ready to appreciate.

She pleaded that parents should also not deprive the under age people in doing what they want to do.

Responding at the exhibition, Miss Adeola Ajao, Chief Executive Officer, Non Governmental Organization, Tabernacle of Talent stated that, Talent wasone those unique gifts God has just given to mankind.

“This event is part of our NGO , which we call showcasing because there is a time for grooming, that the time which you can put things together,

there’s also a time for discovery when they try to make you understand you can actually do things and after grooming and discovery had done behind the door then you see showcasing which just the after mart of everything.

Then what the children had done today it’s really great.”

Ajao said,”Art work was one of those difficult thing unlike dancing and she described art as life and expression of you which people cannot see from facial expression.”

Explaining further, she said, most children these days have challenges with their parents accepting their talent because a lot of parents have this opinion that your talent can prevent your carrier which they have foreseen you becoming,

but I like to encourage them that regardless what your parents want you to be just obey them and do it as long as that talent is in you, you will always find a way to do it. And It can only make you become two professionals.

On her advise, she urged the government to support young talent as possible as they could. “If we are actually getting this support from the government,

I don’t think a lot of parents will discourage their children from exhibiting their talent, it’s because parents feel you have to struggle as an individual to actually make this thing comes to pass;

and sometimes you have to go drain the moral which has been instilled in you as you are growing up but, if government actually create platform where these people can showcase their talents; and may be, the project is being bought or money is being put into it.”

It will help the individual not to drain in the area of moral and also it will help our economy because of course anything that is being put in the market and it’s being bought and sold it will definitely help the economy, she ended.